Ardern on Trump – ‘He is consistent”

On her Asian trip Jacinda Ardern has been reported to have met Donald trump briefly but had little interaction with him. She has been questioned about her impressions of him on her return to New Zealand.

The flow also took her in the direction of Trump, seemingly Ardern’s polar opposite.

While there was some interest before the trip about what sort of diplomatic incident Trump could cause, Ardern revealed it was almost the opposite.

“I was waiting to walk out to be introduced at the East Asia Summit gala dinner, where we all paraded and while we were waiting, Trump in jest patted the person next to him on the shoulder, pointed at me and said, ‘This lady caused a lot of upset in her country’, talking about the election.

“I said, ‘Well, you know, only maybe 40 per cent’, then he said it again and I said, ‘You know’, laughing, ‘no-one marched when I was elected’.

“He laughed and it was only afterwards that I reflect that it could have been taken in a very particular way – he did not seem offended.”

Funny – but I don’t know if it was a genuine laugh or not, or if on reflection Trump thinks it was funny.